It was the first win for the hosts in the continental tournament but it failed to push Becamex Bình Dương up in the rankings. However, they maintained their record of not losing on home turf.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, meanwhile, remained at the top with six points, before another match of the group between Chinese Jiangsu FC and FC Tokyo played later yesterday.

The hosts, who played without their important players Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng, Lê Công Vinh, and Michal Nguyễn because of injuries, surged ahead in the 12th minute.

Australian Erik Paartalu was adjudged to have handled Đặng Văn Robert’s shot inside the penalty area following a corner kick and captain, Anh Duc calmly rolled the penalty into the bottom left corner.

However, the visitors responded, and after Leonardo had seen his free-kick hit the post from 20m and Han Kyo-won fired from close range. Jeonbuk equalised after 27 minutes as Lee Jong-ho latched onto Kim Shin-wook’s header from a Jang Yun-ho’s left-wing cross to steer the ball past Becamex Bình Dương goalkeeper Bùi Tấn Trường.

The K-League Classic champions then went in front just a minute later as Han latched on to a lofted ball, outpaced the Becamex Bình Dương defence, tapped the ball away from goalkeeper Trường who had sprinted a long way out of his penalty area, and slid the ball home.

Coach Choi Kang-hee’s side could not celebrate for too long, however, and with 10 minutes remaining in the first half Trường’s long ball up field was not dealt with by a hesitant Jeonbuk backline, and Amougou took full advantage of that to surge into the penalty area and fire into the net.

The second half lacked fewer clear-cut chances, but Leonardo did have a golden opportunity to restore Jeonbuk’s lead after 70 minutes, but after the ball was put in his path by Lee Jong-ho, the Brazilian could only hammer his shot into the side-netting.

Jeonbuk were then reduced to 10 men as defender Kim Chang-soo was sent-off for a second yellow card after a challenge on Lê Tấn Tài.

Both teams pressed forward in an attempt to take all three points, but Amougou and then Đức were denied the opportunities by Jeonbuk custodian Kwoun Sun-tae.

However, the Jeonbuk goalkeeper could do nothing about Đức’s second penalty of the game with two minutes remaining after Kim Hyun-gil had been sent-off for hauling down Han Seung-yeop inside the area.

Becamex Bình Dương will next play Jiangsu FC while Jeonbuk meet FC Tokyo on April 20. – VNS